Nebraska Medical Center Improves Patient Safety with IQinVision

  • Jul 12, 2012

The Nebraska Medical Center, located in Omaha, has deployed nearly 300 of IQinVision's IQeye HD megapixel cameras to ensure patient safety, upgrade medical care, and reduce staffing costs.

When the medical center wanted to streamline its operations and improve care for at-risk patients, IQinVision HD megapixel cameras and Milestone XProtect® video management software proved to be the answer. With nearly 5,000 employees and 1,000 physicians, The Nebraska Medical Center is the largest health-care facility in Nebraska. The hospital hosts 624 beds and numerous departments that cover pediatrics to oncology to bio-containment.

With a number of patients who require 24/7 observation, the medical center wanted to improve the safety of these at-risk patients, while also reducing staff and overhead requirements. The Center worked with Sentrixx Security Solutions to deploy 299 IQinVision megapixel indoor day/night vandal IP domes and infrared units, and monitoring stations running Milestone XProtect Enterprise IP video surveillance software.

Nebraska Medical Center has reduced its overhead by eliminating the majority of its one-on-one bedside observation staff. There are a dozen monitoring stations located throughout the center and each station allows one or two technicians to observe multiple patients simultaneously. In just the first two months of being operational, the megapixel video system has streamlined the process for monitoring patients and saved The Nebraska Medical Center thousands of dollars.

Until recently, when a patient required 24/7 observation, the hospital placed a staff member in the room to keep an eye on the patient. This was standard practice for patients who, for example, were on suicide watch, prone to violent outbursts or in a critical state of health. It is typical for the medical center to have two or three dozen patients being watched in a one-on-one scenario on a given day, which put a strain on staffing costs.

Sentrixx installed IQinVision megapixel indoor day/night vandal IP dome cameras, providing staff with full real-time video at 30 fps with a 720p resolution. These are unobtrusive dome-style cameras that blend into the hospital’s aesthetic, and they are vandal resistant. Along with each camera, Sentrixx installed an infrared unit to further improve night-time image resolution.

The medical center can cite a number of benefits even after the relatively short period of use. The deployment was fast and easy, and training staff for the advanced system took practically no time.

It is somewhat early to put a firm number on how much this has helped in regards to staffing and reducing the facility’s overall spending, but staff believe they have already seen significant savings, numbering in the thousands of dollars. “I haven’t seen a dollar amount since it is so early, but I know we have already saved ourselves thousands of dollars and we anticipate recouping the cost of the cameras within 7 or 8 months,” said Maureen Goltl, an operations manager at The Nebraska Medical Center.

Then, there are the people being protected—patients and staff members. “We recently had a patient who was somewhat aggressive and agitated,” recalled Goltl. “We placed a person in the room with this patient, but we also decided to keep them on the monitor so the person watching the monitor could tell when the person sitting with that patient needed help. We wanted to make sure they were both safe.”


 

Featured

  • Cost: Reactive vs. Proactive Security

    Security breaches often happen despite the availability of tools to prevent them. To combat this problem, the industry is shifting from reactive correction to proactive protection. This article will examine why so many security leaders have realized they must “lead before the breach” – not after. Read Now

  • Achieving Clear Audio

    In today’s ever-changing world of security and risk management, effective communication via an intercom and door entry communication system is a critical communication tool to keep a facility’s staff, visitors and vendors safe. Read Now

  • Beyond Apps: Access Control for Today’s Residents

    The modern resident lives in an app-saturated world. From banking to grocery delivery, fitness tracking to ridesharing, nearly every service demands another download. But when it comes to accessing the place you live, most people do not want to clutter their phone with yet another app, especially if its only purpose is to open a door. Read Now

  • Survey: 48 Percent of Worshippers Feel Less Safe Attending In-Person Services

    Almost half (48%) of those who attend religious services say they feel less safe attending in-person due to rising acts of violence at places of worship. In fact, 39% report these safety concerns have led them to change how often they attend in-person services, according to new research from Verkada conducted online by The Harris Poll among 1,123 U.S. adults who attend a religious service or event at least once a month. Read Now

  • AI Used as Part of Sophisticated Espionage Campaign

    A cybersecurity inflection point has been reached in which AI models has become genuinely useful in cybersecurity operation. But to no surprise, they can used for both good works and ill will. Systemic evaluations show cyber capabilities double in six months, and they have been tracking real-world cyberattacks showing how malicious actors were using AI capabilities. These capabilities were predicted and are expected to evolve, but what stood out for researchers was how quickly they have done so, at scale. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.

  • FEP GameChanger

    FEP GameChanger

    Paige Datacom Solutions Introduces Important and Innovative Cabling Products GameChanger Cable, a proven and patented solution that significantly exceeds the reach of traditional category cable will now have a FEP/FEP construction.

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation.